Those that keep insisting that the U.S. economy is heading in the right direction conveniently ignore the very troubling facts and figures that I regularly share with my readers.  When you take an honest look at the cold, hard numbers that the economy keeps producing, there is only one logical conclusion.  Our entire system is crumbling, and it appears that conditions will soon get significantly worse.

Just look at what is happening to our banks.

The FDIC's most recent report tells us that there are 63 "problem banks" in the United States, and collectively our banks now have 517 billion dollars in unrealized losses…

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's first quarter report, the US banking system is sitting on a collective $517 billion in unrealized losses and has 63 "problem banks."

Those losses have been sparked primarily by a surge in interest rates over the past two years, which have driven down the price of fixed-income securities held by banks.

Unrealized losses held by banks increased by $39 billion in the first quarter relative to the fourth quarter of 2023.

"Higher unrealized losses on residential mortgage-backed securities, resulting from higher mortgage rates in the first quarter, drove the overall increase," the FDIC said.